Telephone switch or telephone contact



SePt- 13, 1945s G. H. McLouGHLlN 2,384,948

TELEPHONE SWITCH OR TELEPHONE CONTACT Filed Dec. '9, 1940 l l Ir.

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Invenior Patented Sept. 18, 1945 TELEPHONE SWITCH R TELEPHONE CONTACTGeorge H. McLoughlin, Scranton, Pa., assignor to Automatic ElectricLaboratories, Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationDecember 9, 1940, Serial No. 369,157

1 Claim.

This invention relates to electric switches, contacts or buttons used ontelephone sets conslsting of a sound receiver and transmitter andsuitable stands, bases, hangers, holders or cradles for holding same;and the primary object thereof is to provide a magnetically operatedtelephone switch for the purpose of breaking and closing an electricaltelephone circuit and for the purpose of providing an entirely enclosedswitch so that said switch cannot be accidentally 0r deliberatelyoperated while the telephone is in use and to prevent dust and othermaterial from reaching the switch and interfering with its operation andto prevent sparks created 1by the switch from igniting any gases presentin the surrounding atmosphere; and to this end my invention consists ofmovable permanent magnets which normally attract or repel magnet arms(attraction or repulsion depending upon the arrangement of magneticpoles) thereby breaking the circuit, and Iwhen the movable magnets areremoved they no longer inuence the magnet arms and these arms areretracted by springs to make electrical contact and thus complete thetelephone circuit.

It also consists of magnets arranged in the vhandpiece in such a Waythat two of their similar magnetic poles are farthest from each other,thus a similar pole will always be in the proper place above the armregardless of which way the handpiece is placed in the cradle.

Also, it further consists of novel combinations, arrangements andrelation of parts, which are revealed in the description.

Two similar switch units are shown in each -phone of each drawing inorder to illustrate a in the handpiece.

Fig. 2. The telephone base containing the contact parts of the switches.

Fig. 3. A part of the switch (the magnet arm) showing the method ofattaching the magnet or magnetic metal piece to the axle and stand, and

been made.

(Cl. 179-159) l ,l

also the method of insulating the contact spring from the arm.

The numerals designate the parts which are described in the followingparagraph:

In drawing number one-numeral I designates the permanent magnets set inrecesses in the4 base casing II by means of nuts 8. Numeral 3 1designates a pair of springs which are held in place by 'bolts and nuts'I and which press upwardly on arms 2. ignate electric wires, whichprovide an electric circuit through upwardly making contact point :boltsI I and contact springs 4 which are attached to arms 2 by means of bolts28 and insulated from arms 2 by means of insulating washers 2I and 26.Numeral 25 designates the north poles of the magnet arms 2; thusnumerals 24 and 25 designate like magnetic poles in combinations ofmagnets which are like in any pole relations or arrangements. Numerals2| and 2U designate hollow spaces of base. Numeral I9 designatesl thephone cradle which is attached to the removable top I8, which isattached to the base casing I1 by means of bolts I4. Numeral I3designates the telephone cable containing wires leading to the switch.

The operation is as follows: When the handpiece 22 is in the cradle I9,the magnets I and magnet arms 2 repulse each other and thus the pivotcdmagnet arms 2 are forced or repulsed by magnetic repulsion of likemagnetic poles. thereby withdrawing the contact springs 4 fromengagement with the extended contact point :bolts III and thus breakingthe circuit, this being the normal disposition of the parts as long asthe handpiece 22 remains in the cradle I9. When the handpiece 22 isremoved from the cradle I9, the mutual magnetic influence no longerexists, leaving the arms 2 free to be raised by the springs 3 and thuscausing the contact springs 4 to engage the extended contact point boltsII .and

close the circuit, thus allowing the passage of an electric currentthrough the telephone circuit.

I am aware that prior to my invention some types of magneticallyoperated switches have I, therefore, do not claim the m88- neticallyoperated switch in its entirety, but only Numerals 9, III and I2desthose types and applications stated in the following.

I claim:

A telephone switch system comprising two or d more sets of magnetsarranged to act in unity and consisting of a plurality of magnetsmovably mounted within a desk setl in combination with a plurality ofmagnets immovably mounted on a hand set. said magnets having their likepoles so arranged that one set of like poles are adjacent each otherwhile the other set oi.' like poles are remote from each other and alsobeing so ar-

